Quick-to-dismantle, reconfigurable stringed musical instrument

Abstract

The invention relates to a musical instrument having plucked strings, in particular an electric guitar or bass, the neck of which can be quickly dismantled and stored in a groove located in the front face of the body, in line with the strings of the instrument. allowing the instrument to be transported in a compact case.Various elements are positioned in the groove: bridge, tailpiece and microphones. These elements are removed from the groove when the instrument is dismantled, leaving room for the neck and allowing the instrument to be stored in the smallest possible thickness. This allows for different configurations in terms of the choice of microphones, bridge and tailpiece, which can be easily interchanged to obtain different ranges of sound depending on the repertoire and musical tastes of the musician.

1 . A plucked string musical instrument comprising:
 a) a body comprising a pocket to receive a neck,   b) a straight neck mechanically fixed to the body at the level of a heel inserted into the pocket,   c) a groove dug on the playing face of the body of the instrument, along an axis parallel to the axis of the neck, over the entire length of the body, starting from the pocket, over a width at least equal to the width of the pocket and a depth at least equal to the depth of the pocket,   d) a cavity made in the groove, wider than the groove and equipped laterally with mechanical guides parallel to the axis of the groove and of a length less than the length of the cavity, allowing, once the tension of the strings is released, the tailpiece and the bridge of the instrument to slide backwards relative to the neck until they pass the end of the guides and thus to be able to separate the tailpiece and the bridge from the body of the instrument by removing them from the cavity.   Said musical instrument also having the following characteristics:   a) the groove has two lateral stops allowing the neck to be wedged longitudinally in relation to the body and to pivot it along an axis parallel to the plane of the strings and perpendicular to the axis of the neck in order to release tension from the strings when removing the neck and to put them back under tension when reassembling the neck.   b) the back of the neck has two cavities intended to receive the stops when the neck is turned 180 degrees in the plane of the strings and then placed inside the groove with the back of the neck towards the body of the instrument.   
     
     
         2 . A musical instrument according to  claim 1 :
 a) whose heel is equipped with a plate mechanically fixed so as to retain a nut buried in the heel while allowing access to the screw thread of the nut,   b) whose body is pierced with a single hole allowing the neck to be fixed by means of a bolt screwed into the nut buried in the heel.   
     
     
         3 . A musical instrument according to  claim 2 :
 a) whose body has a cutaway at the junction with the neck on the side of the treble strings   b) whose body pocket is equipped with a rail parallel to the axis of the neck and perpendicular to the plane of the body,   c) whose heel is provided with a slot intended to receive the rail precisely in order to provide lateral wedging of the neck and another slot intended to receive the rail when the neck is turned 180 degrees in the plane of the strings and placed inside the groove, the back of the neck towards the body of the instrument.   
     
     
         4 . A musical instrument according to  claim 1  which is an electric instrument whose microphones are placed inside the groove when mounting the neck and removed when dismounting the neck. 
     
     
         5 . A musical instrument according to  claim 4 :
 a/ characterized in that it is a guitar,   b/ whose small lobe of the body has a wide, shallow cutaway at the bottom of the neck on the side of the treble strings,   c/ of which the part of the small lobe of the body located between the junction with the large lobe and the bottom of the neck, on the side of the bass strings, has been removed,   d/ of which the lower part of the large lobe of the body of the instrument on the side of the treble strings has been removed.   
     
     
         6 . A musical instrument according to  claim 4 :
 a/ characterized in that it is a bass,   b/ whose small lobe of the body has a wide, shallow cutaway at the bottom of the neck on the side of the treble strings,   c/ of which the part of the small lobe of the body located between the junction with the large lobe and the bottom of the neck, on the side of the bass strings, has been removed,   d/ of which the lower part of the large lobe of the body of the instrument on the side of the treble strings has been removed.